Snow
by Skyfire-Above
Summary: Sometimes, when you are unable to find a change of pace, you get what you have desired for so very long. This is the case for twenty year old Haruno Sakura.
1. Chapter 1 : Cold

_  
My first real story. Sorry for my weird, repeating sentence structure.  
I don't ask for reviews, so don't feel like you need to leave one.  
_

* * *

Winter had come. The entire village of Konoha had become laced with snow; trees and lakes crystallized by ice. It was as if nothing else was occurring at this point in time, everything else had stopped to witness the beauty that the snow and the ice created. It was about ten at night, all was dark – save for the white gold protruding from the unclear night sky.

Twenty year old Haruno Sakura had just finished her work shift, met by exhaustion. She had over-worked herself so much these last few years, as there was not much else in her life that was consistent; never changing. Almost a year ago, Naruto and Kakashi had been stationed in Suna, since the village of Iwagakure had not been very loyal to Suna – and had attacked their shinobi squads rather frequently. Gaara had asked Tsunade for help, and of course she would only send the best.

Sakura had seen them every now and then, when Tsunade would give her escort missions which would eventually lead the clients to Suna. But it had been five months since she had been given one of those missions, and she had now been left to working at the hospital. Sakura felt as if everything she had done up to now was useless – she felt that she should be in Suna with her former teammates.

But that was not what fate decided; after all, she is Konoha's most esteemed medical shinobi, apart from Tsunade herself. She had no other choice but to be the head doctor at Konoha Hospital. It was exhausting, but Sakura had always been the one to do it to herself. She never accepted help from others unless she absolutely needed it.

So here we are, into the present.

Sakura had been about half-way home.. when all of a sudden, she noticed something. A very faint - yet familiar chakra had been coming from the Uchiha compound. It was about a block away from where she was right now.

She stopped dead in her tracks.. _Sasuke._

What was she to do? Her chakra was rather depleted.. and there was nobody in sight that she could notify. Most of the Konoha shinobi had been on missions, and Tsunade was probably in bed by now.

Sakura had no other choice. She built up her strength, and began towards the Uchiha compound, quicker in pace than she had been walking before.

She reached her destination. Rusty, broken gates had met her eyes. The Uchiha compound was so desolate, having not been occupied for more than a decade. The buildings had been vandalized, covered in graffiti. Almost all of the windows on the houses had been broken. This would be thanks to Konoha's teenagers. A few years after Sasuke had left, it had become the hot spot for late night drinking escapades.

Sakura had been to the compound a few times, so she knew her way around. It was her favorite place to be when Sasuke had left. The lake was a wonderful place to be alone, and at peace. Nobody had bothered to go there, save for the occasional rotten teenagers.

Sakura closed her eyes, and focused on the location of Sasuke's chakra. She was so glad that she had masked her chakra constantly, otherwise she may have had a rude awakening by now.

From what she could tell, Sasuke was by her favorite spot – the lake.

Kunai in hand, Sakura quietly rushed towards his chakra.

When he came into sight, she hid in the trees. Sasuke was sitting at the edge of the short boardwalk. No emotion was visible on his face, he just looked completely.. _empty._

But then, he disappeared, so quickly that you would have believed he was an illusion, vanishing in thin air.

She panicked. He was right behind her.

"Sakura."

She turned around, to be met by blazing sharingan eyes. Her energy began to fail her.

_"...Sasuke..."_

And with that, her world turned black. All was cold, yet she felt a small amount of warmth.


	2. Chapter 2 : Warmth

_Just when you least expect it...  
Life turns around, **for the better.**_

* * *

Sakura had fallen unconscious, but only to be caught by the same person that put her in that state.

Sasuke had known someone was watching him, but he was not aware that it was Sakura - until after he had already put her to sleep. He hadn't seen any of her features from where he was sitting. Otherwise he wouldn't have knocked her out.

A few things could not stop crossing his mind.

_How am I going to tell her? And what am I going to do?_

He couldn't very well leave her out in the cold, to die of hypothermia. He wasn't that cruel. He _was _returning, but he just couldn't come out of hiding yet. He needed to figure out what he would say; what his defense would be. He knew that the council would not go easy on him. And he knew of his goals for his future.. now that all enemies in his path had been assassinated.

So he did what was most rational. He carried her into the house that he had never thought he would enter again. It was the only one that hadn't been vandalized. No one dared to enter it since _that _day.

* * *

Sakura had woken up, feeling a slight pain in her head. She couldn't see anything at all, it was completely dark.

_Where am I?_

Oh, great. Now she remembers. She had chased Sasuke's chakra. And been knocked out by him.

"Sas..uke?" She said, unsure if he was still around – she couldn't feel his chakra now.

"Sakura." He replied.

She faltered. "What are you doing here?" She said, sounding skeptical.

It took him a while to reply, as if he were thinking about what to say.

"I'm back.. But I need you to help me with something."

Sakura heard the faint sound of a match, and then she could finally see. Sasuke had lit a candle. He was sitting indian style in front of her, looking into her eyes - now that he could see as well.

She did the same, somewhat afraid he would knock her out again. But he didn't. His sharingan wasn't even activated. Her eyes scanned him over, as his did as well. He had only been able to grow more handsome, of course.

He had changed so much throughout the years. But _so did she._

She hesitated to speak.

"What exactly do you need help with?" She said, looking into his eyes, her gaze lingering a bit longer than she should have.

Sasuke moved, and sat beside her.

Sasuke kept opening his mouth, and closed it, as if he were trying to say something – but did not know how to say it. Until eventually, he spoke.

"Do you remember when we first met with Kakashi?"

Sakura nodded.

"Do you remember what I said, when he asked me of my goals?"

Sakura nodded again - slowly, but then her eyes widened, and she gasped.

"Do you mean.. that's what you want me to help you with... Sasuke?"

Sasuke smirked, closed his eyes and nodded.

"Then I accept, Sasuke." She smiled.

That moment in time seemed to stop, as Sasuke leaned close to her and crashed his lips onto hers. Her arms were around his torso, caressing his silky, slightly wet hair thanks to the snow. And his hands roamed the small of her back, pulling her closer to him than humanly possible. Both of their hearts were beating in rhythm with eachother. And even as the desolate, abandoned house which Sasuke grew up in had been so very cold – they had shared body heat, and all became warm in the world.

Their need for air forced them both to pull apart, panting for breath. They remained in eachother's arms, heads on eachother's shoulders.

"I love you, Sasuke."

His lips ran over her neck, trailing light kisses until his mouth reached her earlobe.

"I love you too, _Sakura._"He whispered, voice as deep as the ocean blue.

* * *

_And time stood still._


End file.
